Amanda PhillipsDestination Louisiana
Destination Louisiana is loved by Barrhead Travel as well as by film directors! With its atmospheric big cities, coastal wetlands, swamps and marshes, multi-million dollar sound stages and post production houses, this destination has a lot to recommend it as a perfect film location.
In 2013, Louisiana was the top locale for major Hollywood movies, ousting California from its usual place at the top of the heap. But film-making in the state isn’t a new phenomenon at all – it’s been home to some of the best known films of the last 100 years.
For instance, the original ‘Tarzan of the Apes’ was made here in 1918. It was chosen based purely on the fact that Morgan City, Louisiana, courtesy of its swamps and rich scenery, looked a lot like an African rainforest all those years ago.
The Louisiana film hits have kept on coming. There’s the classic Easy Rider, featuring Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda as freewheeling hippies and setting the bar high for the use of iconic Louisiana locations. The state’s Highway 105 was also the chosen spot for the end scene and credits of this film.
If weepies are more your film style of choice, then this is the place that the comedy-drama Steel Magnolias was born, and where Monster’s Ball took place. Prefer thrillers or crime dramas? The Big Easy, Dead Man Walking and Delta Heat were all filmed in Louisiana, as was the phenomenally-successful 12 Years A Slave.
Add in Catch Me If You Can, about the true-life adventures of con-man Frank Abignale, the Blues Brothers 2000, 21 Jump Street and The Waterboy, and you have a whole variety of different film genres which took this place as their inspiration.
Image Credit: Jorg Hackemann/Shutterstock.com
It’s reported that 1 in 7 people who choose to visit the Bayou State are there because they have cleverly researched which massive film productions and television series have been shot there. Take vampire-based television series ‘True Blood’ for instance – it’s catapulted this Deep-South state to fame, becoming a must-visit place of worship for fans from all over the world.
In 2015, Louisiana is still going strong in the film stakes. Soon to play host to Hollywood heavyweights Chris Pratt and Denzel Washington in the adaptation of the classic ‘The Magnificent Seven,’ Louisiana is still shining as one of the world’s top film locations.
You don’t have to be a film buff to visit Louisiana though – there are more than enough reasons to jump on a plane to visit it, thanks to its beautiful landscapes and scenery. The cities have a strong multicultural, multilingual heritage, influenced by a mixture of 18th century French, Spanish, native American and African cultures – the perfect melting pot for an unforgettable holiday completely unlike anywhere else in the USA.
Whether you want to get up close to where some of the world’s greatest actors have been captured on celluloid, or just want an escape from the norm, then Louisiana will tick all the boxes as a top holiday destination and a world class film set, all rolled into one.